The adventures of the Swiss Family Johnson

A rainy Sunday has motivated us to spend the day hunkered down in the office, filing and updating our blog - finally!
It's been a jam-packed summer so far, packed mostly with school but peppered with lots of good times. JR and I are enrolled in the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) program at good ol' Western Wa - its a summer intensive program, to be followed up with a summer student teaching in Morleia, MX next year! The endsorsement, as and add to our teaching certificates (mine in early '09) will help us both in a competitive market up here (Skagit and Whatcom counties) that have large migrant populations and new grants for bilingual classrooms. Bilingual classrooms are hot button ed topic right now, along w/English Only movement....anyway the program is intense but good, especially the interaction with study abroad and Korea University students who want to learn "American culture".
July's weekends have joyfully been packed with celebration for a family wedding of sorts, Erin Kirkegaard and Adam Karpenske! July 7 we hosted an engagmenet party BBQ for them, complete with a Bellingham photo scavenger hunt which included a 'defunct Bham business, a dog taking a poo, a dancing hippie, a local artist with art, born and raised "hamster", etc. Tons o fun, pictures coming soon. Last weekend and this were the bachelor/bacholorette parties, with the girls totally winning - Lisa rented a Party Bus. Nuff said.
JR's waiting to hear back about an alternative High School position (Explorations Academy), and I'm settling in to my new PT position as the Development Dir at KUGS radio, local college station run by students, with 8 paid positions. I form the laison between local businesses who underwrite the station - rolling around dowtown meeting with local biz owners gathering gift ceritificates, then sending them to listeners, on air giveaways and DJ appreciation. Its a blast working with great "kids" (19-22) again and being hip to the square.
General invitation: If you're not already planning on it, come to BUMBERSHOOT this year! And if you're out of town-ish, come stay with us! Its a great rendezvous, that grassy knoll (which is totally gone, with the flag pavilion. Gone are the days of the $5 Bumbershoot experience!).
Ok, back to nursing my sore feet from the War Room last night and recycling pounds of papers from old mail and files... signing out from Bellingham, the city of subdued excitement.